François Haverschmidt was a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 minister and writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, who wrote prose under his own name but remains best known for the poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 published under the pen name of Piet Paaltjens.

Life and career

Haverschmidt read Calvinist

Calvinism

Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

 theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 at Leiden University

Leiden University

Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...

, graduating in 1858. He then successively became minister in Foudgum

Dongeradeel

- History :Dongeradeel was created in 1984 from a merger of the old municipalities Westdongeradeel, Oostdongeradeel, and Dokkum. The new municipality is still colloquially referred to in the plural, "de Dongeradelen".- Population centres :...

, Den Helder

Den Helder

Den Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...

 and Schiedam

Schiedam

Schiedam is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is part of the Rotterdam metropolitan area. The city is located west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen and south of Delft...

.

During his student days, he had some of his poetry published in student magazines under the pen name of Piet Paaltjens, around whom a playful but elaborate mystification was created as Haverschmit kept his poetry separate from his "serious" prose and sermons, not unlike Nicolaas Beets

Nicolaas Beets

Nicolaas Beets was a Dutch theologian, writer and poet. He published under the pseudonym, Hildebrand....

.

He is a leading candidate for creating the Oera Linda Book, the inferred reason being a practical joke

Practical joke

A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, typically causing the victim to experience embarrassment, indignity, or discomfort. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being fooled into handing over money or...

 (a parody of the Bible to lampoon fundamentalist Christians). However, many of his contemporaries believed the book to be authentic. This would have prevented Haverschmidt and his collaborators (if they were indeed the authors of the supposedly millennia-old text) from unmasking their hoax, which consequently completely backfired.

Haverschmidt became progressively more depressed, especially after his wife's death in 1891, and ultimately committed suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 in 1894.

As Piet Paaltjens

• Snikken en grimlachjes: poëzie uit den studententijd ("Sobs and Bitter Grins: Student-Days Poetry", 1867) ISBN 90-214-9765-4

As François Haverschmidt

• Familie en kennissen ("Relatives and Acquaintances", short stories
  Short story
  A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
  
  , 1876)
• Uit geest en gemoed ("From Mind and Heart", sermon
  Sermon
  A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
  
  s, 1894)

As both

• Nagelaten snikken van Piet Paaltjens: poëzie en proza, tekeningen en curiosa uit de nalatenschap van François HaverSchmidt ("Posthumous Sobs of Piet Paaltjens: Poetry and Prose, Drawings and Curiosities from François HaverSchmidt's Estate", early poetry and prose and Paaltjens "outtakes", 1961)

English translation

A section of Snikken en grimlachjes has been translated into English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 by Jacob Lowland as Everlastings (1850-1852) (Amsterdam: Aarts, 1982)